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PLANS for a huge wind farm in Shetland have been blown off course – by a rare wading bird.

A judge’s ruling has left the 103-turbine scheme in limbo, over fears it could endanger the islands’ threatened whimbrel population.

When Viking Energy Partnership won permission for a £556million 103-turbine scheme in April, it was projected to be “one of the most productive wind farms in the world”. But now a judge has ruled that the decision should be set aside because it could threaten the fragile habitat of the whimbrel.

Lady Clark’s ruling came as campaign group Sustainable Shetland challenged the decision at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.

"The spectre of global warming and the political panic surrounding it has triggered a goldrush for renewable energy sources without an open discussion of the merits and drawbacks of each. In The Wind Farm Scam Dr Etherington argues that in the case of wind power the latter far outweigh the former. Wind turbines cannot generate enough energy to reduce global CO2 levels to a meaningful degree; what’s more wind power is by nature intermittent and cannot generate a steady output, necessitating back-up coal and gas power plants that significantly negate the saving of greenhouse gas emissions. In addition to the inefficacy of wind power there are ecological drawbacks, including damage to habitats, wildlife and the far-from-insignificant aesthetic drawback of the assault upon natural beauty and the pristine landscape, which wind turbines entail. Dr Etherington argues that wind power has been, and is being, excessively financed at the cost of consumers who have not been consulted, nor informed that this effective subsidy is being paid from their bills to support an industry that cannot be cost efficient or, ultimately, favour the cause it purports to support."